St. Pete Mayor Orders Removal Of Confederate Marker

The mayor of St. Petersburg has ordered the removal of a stone marker erected in 1939 to commemorate Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson.

The Tampa Bay Times reports Mayor Rick Kriseman decided to remove it after he consulted with the city's police chief, who suggested removing it quietly without alerting the public or the media in the interests of public safety.

The marker — a bronze plaque mounted to a large stone near the city's waterfront — is being stored until the city can find the owner. Kirby said the city has reached out to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

St. Petersburg's marker does not praise Jackson, who was mortally wounded by his own troops at the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. It notes the spot where the memorial highway ended.

Waving signs reading “Nasty Women Unite,” and “Choose Love,” thousands of marchers poured into downtown St. Petersburg Saturday to support women’s issues and civil rights. It was one of hundreds of “sister marches” happening the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, as a protest to his agenda.

The president of a Southwest Florida NAACP chapter says a white supremacist rally in Virginia has prompted him to resume efforts to remove Confederate monuments.

James Muwakkil leads the NAACP chapter in Lee County, which is named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The chapter's 2015 efforts to change Lee's portrait in county commission chambers were unsuccessful.